Phil McNulty predicts the final league table: CHELSEA (Champions) MANCHESTER CITY (Runners-up) MANCHESTER UNITED (Third) TOTTENHAM (Fourth) ARSENAL (Fifth) LIVERPOOL (Sixth) EVERTON (Seventh) WEST HAM (Eighth) ASTON VILLA (Ninth) SWANSEA (10th) SOUTHAMPTON (11th) NEWCASTLE (12th) FULHAM (13th) STOKE (14th) WEST BROM (15th) NORWICH (16th) SUNDERLAND (17th) CARDIFF (18th) CRYSTAL PALACE (19th) HULL (20th) Personally I expect Swansea to be much higher, above Everton in fact. West Ham I agree will be top half. I think Newcastle will be in a relegation battle, along with Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa (and Crystal Palace ad Hull). But I think Cardiff will have a strong season for a newly promoted side and Norwich and Southampton will be neatly in mid table. Chelsea will not be in the title race.
I was going to say would Butland be happy being a back-up but I guess he will be at Stoke with Bergovic there.
Definitely, has Doni actually left or not? Dunno what's going on, he has family problems doesn't he? We need someone better than Jones though, he's gash.
Don't see Newcastle in a relegation battle. Cisse, Ben Arfa, Gomis, Remy, Cabaye, Collocini, Tiote, Sissoko.. They have got some quality players still.
Exactly mate, I think he'll be back up at most PL clubs, he'll have to fight for his place, I just don't understand why he chose Stoke for? Mad ****er
You have to remember what players they had last year and how much **** they were in still. They do have Remy this time though so they will have more of a chance to finish better this year. They also think that Cabaye will be off too though, dunno where they've got that from though cause I haven't seen any rumours about him leaving them.
He should be aiming higher than back-up. He'd have been better off staying with Birmingham in the Championship IMO
Joe Kenear, Mie Ashley going behind Pardew's back. They were pretty bad last season with those players to.
Think he should have gone to a team like Newcastle instead, or Everton. Howard isn't getting any younger and he'll have to chance to play in Europe if Everton finish 5th. Ofc I don't want him to go to Everton, would prefer he come in the cheap to us
The 2013/14 Premier League season opens at Anfield, with Liverpool hoping to avoid any distractions against Stoke City. The red half of Merseyside has seen its summer dominated by the future of Luis Suarez, with the Uruguayan striker having spent much of the transfer window pushing for a move away from the club - only to then suggest on the eve of the new season that he is willing to stay put. Brendan Rodgers has, understandably, expressed a desire to turn attention away from the Suarez saga - the forward is still serving a domestic suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic - and focus on the start of a campaign he hopes will see Liverpool position themselves back in the race for a top-four finish and a return to UEFA Champions League competition. Fresh faces have been drafted in to try and aid the Reds in their quest and, on the back of a positive pre-season, they must now start providing a return on the considerable investment made in them. The biggest change at Stoke heading into the new season has come in the dugout, with Mark Hughes having succeeded Tony Pulis - the man who has cemented the Potters as a Premier League outfit. Hughes has plenty of prior experience of top-flight management, but needs to prove that an ill-fated spell in charge of Queens Park Rangers was a merely a blot on an otherwise impressive copy book. He is unlikely to tinker too much with the philosophies that served Stoke well under Pulis, but will be aware of the need to find an added goal threat from somewhere - with only rock-bottom QPR having found the target on fewer occasions that the Potters last term. Last 6 Celtic (a) 1-0 Valerenga (a) 1-4 Olympiakos (h) 2-0 Thailand (a) 0-3 Melbourne Victory (a) 0-2 Indonesia All Stars (a) 0-2 . Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is rated at about 80 per cent fit, but appears to have shown enough to warrant inclusion in Brendan Rodgers' starting XI. Centre-backs Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel (both knee injuries) are expected to be available, although the latter is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench. Summer signings Simon Mignolet and Kolo Toure are set to make their competitive debuts, while fellow new arrivals Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto are also in the squad, but Luis Suarez is suspended for a further six matches. . Stoke City Last 6 Genoa (a) 0-0 Wrexham (a) 0-1 Macc'field (a) 1-2 . Midfielder Brek Shea misses Stoke's season opener with a knee injury suffered during a friendly run-out in the United States last month. Another midfielder, Jamie Ness, is also ruled out of Hughes' first competitive game at the helm after his involvement in pre-season was curtailed by injury. Summer signings Erik Pieters and Marc Muniesa, both defenders, are in contention for debuts while Asmir Begovic looks set to remain first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Thomas Sorensen and Jack Butland.
Wonder why Stoke have only had 3 pre-season friendlies and if that will help us be more match sharp and better fitness. They played on 3rd & 4th August (guessing one of them must have been a much changed/weaker squad and wouldn't be the first team) and then again on 10th and that's it.
No one wanted to play them as teams prefer to have a wide selection of players going into the first league game?
July 25 Houston Dynamo (BBVA Compas Stadium, Houston) 2am - lost 0-2 July 27 FC Dallas (FC Dallas Stadium, Dallas) - won 1-0 July 30 Philadelphia Union (PPL Park) - won 2-0 August 4 Wrexham (Racecourse Ground) 3pm - won 1-0 August 10 Genoa (Britannia Stadium) 3pm Drew 0-0
